Background

Target #16.9 of the recently adopted new global development agenda, the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), urges all countries to provide “legal identity for all (including birth registration) by 2030.” Whereas most countries have legal provision for birth registration and operate at least basic civil registry systems that record additional ‘major life events’ such as marriages and deaths, many Member States do not operate comprehensive ‘birth-to-death’ population registration systems that provide for the full enjoyment of legal identity that SDG Target 16.9 envisages. Accurate and sustainable population registration systems that maintain accurate records of all persons residing (and in some cases visiting) countries, for example, can greatly assist in not only socio-economic and spatial development and planning, but can provide the means by which persons can achieve their rights to access all manner of public services.

With technological advances in the area of field capture of biometric data, UNDP is being approached with an increasing number of requests to support partner countries develop fledging comprehensive population registration systems, including support to national ID card systems. These initiatives often follow on from an initial biometric voter registration exercise, and the support requested of UNDP includes procurement of equipment on behalf of national electoral management bodies, for that purpose.

The move to comprehensive birth-to-death population registration systems, however, involves complex issues with regards to both the policy framework and matters of sustainability. Introduction of a comprehensive national population register that incorporates a traditional ‘foundational’ register such as the civil register (births, deaths, marriages, etc.), requires states to decide how to link, if at all, any or all other state functional registers as well as government units at all levels. These include such registers as those that record issuance of passports and driving licences, for example, through to social security and individual tax registers, and then to registers that are traditionally more sensitive, such as the database documenting criminal record or interaction with the state judicial system. In some countries, there is intense debate as to whether characteristics such as ethnicity should also be recorded and showing on ID documents, which can be highly political and highly sensitive and in some countries, even triggers levels of political representation for particular groups in elected bodies.

Without adequate data protection legislative frameworks, therefore, and empowered data protection bodies ensuring respect for the law, there is scope for the misuse of data, including ‘ethnic profiling’ and cross-referencing of ethnicity, for example, against a data field like criminal record. Furthermore, in cases where there is multiple linking of registers and databases, there is the challenge of data integrity and the risk of data contamination via accidential or nefarious means, and the possibility of creating a ‘single point of failure’ in a person’s digital identity. The use of biometrics to confirm or authenticate identiy is an on-going debate, raising the need to develop coherent strategies addressing risks of biometrics that are inaccurate or compromised. A policy framework is necessary to address these needs and challenges, particulalry as only approximately half of the world’s countries have data protection, cybersecurity, and/or privacy laws. Women, in particular, experience many difficulties in some countries worldwide in accessing ID documents, and can face cultural obstacles in the collection of biometric data.

Within the UN system, different agencies lead on support to countries in the development and management of particular population registers. UNICEF, for example, assists partner countries in matters related to birth registration and child vaccination registration. UNHCR assists in the registration of refugees. UNFPA assist in matters related to census and demography. UNDESA serves as the secretariat to the UN Statistical Commission, coordinates global statistical activities, compiles and disseminates statistical information, develops methodological standards and norms, and supports national statistical systems. UN DESA’s Population Division studies population dynamics and monitors demographic trends and policies worldwide. UNODC assists in matters related to ID odcument authenticity, and UNDP, as mentioned above, assists a number of countries in voter registration. No one UN agency, however, ‘holds the pen’ on matters related to overall population registration and identity management, and thus neither an individual agency, nor the UN system as a whole, has developed basic policy principles on population registration and identity management. There are existing initiatives in this field, such as the World Bank Group’s ‘ID4Development Cross-Practice Working Group’ and the existing UN Civil Registration and Vital Statistics Group, but neither represents a full, UN system-wide comprehensive approach to policies, principles, and innovative approaches on population registration and identity management.

The world is rapidly urbanizing, with around 2.9 billion more excpected to live in cities by 2050, mainly in the developing and expanding cities of the Global South. Municipal capacities to manage this significant population, with the accompanying need to deliver services and ensure citizen rights, will require significant support. Some are exploring “smart” approaches, which involves among others the use smart technologies to gather data. With the expected expansion of ‘smartcard’-based national identity management systems in the coming years, it is crucial that UNDP work within the UN system to develop more comprehensive policy frameworks in this area. This will be particularly topical in the context of the continuing, and evolving, global debate about matters related to privacy, cybersecuity, data revolution, and use of citizen information by state security forces. These are vastly different cultural perspectives among UN Member States, for example, on the appropriate level to which individuals should be expected to share matters related to their identity with the state, and the state to which legal identity is not only facilitated but mandated.

Refugee populations are also a section of the population that have, in some conflicts, lost all ID documents and face significant difficulties re-entering the national population registration systems, particularly from abroad.

Most national ID card systems that have been rolled out in recent years feature (smart) cards with a chip that can hold multiple data fields, including not only the data visible on the card, but potentially other data fields, readable by either stationary machines that can be deployed in both public and private institutions (such as banks) or by handheld or vehicle-mounted card readers, that can be read by groups such as state security officials.

Duties and Responsibilities

This proposed consultancy, therefore, aims to accomplish two key tasks:

• The consultant should  produce a maping of the current UN activity, and policy, in the area of identity management;
• The consultant should develop policy reports (as outlined below) which can be used to facilitate preliminary engagement of the UN system in the creation of UN-system-wide policy framework in identity management as well as inform debates on best practice in the field of technology-assisted, sustainable identity management and population registration.

Actions and Deliverables:

• Summary report on current UN agency activities in population registration, including the approaches and technologies used, as well as any attendant efforts related to building national and local capacities. This envisages conducting consultations with agencies such as UNICEF, UNHCR, UNFPA, UN DESA and UNDP, as well as reaching out to other agencies such as the World Bank, IOM and the UN Civil Registration and Vital Statistics Group - 1 December 2015;
• Summary report on current UN policy on identity management, clearly differentiating between policy that is stated, and policy that appears derived from current practice - 1 December 2015;
• Document identifying current UN policy gaps, for example, in areas such as privacy, data protection, freedom of information and the primacy of digital or paper identities - 15 December 2015;
• Present draft set of basic UN policy principles in identity management which can be the basis of dialogue and agreement on a common set of principles among UN agencies - 15 December 2015.

Institutional Arrangements:

• The consultant will report directly and seek approval of output from Policy Advisor on Electoral Assistance in the area of Governance and Peacebuilidng  in the Bureau for Policy and Programme Support in UNDP;
• The consultant will be responsible for providing her/his own laptop and software to be used;
• Payments will be made upon submission of a detailed time sheet and certificate of payment form, and approval and confirmation by the Policy Advisor;
• Official travel is not planned for this assignment.

Competencies

Functional Competencies:

• Expert knowledge related to population registration systems (civil registration; national ID cards; voter registration; etc.);
• Demonstrated international experience in advising national governments on population registration systems;
• Familiarity with the work of the UN system on identity management and population registration systems;
• Demonstrated experience researching and drafting policy documents in the area of population registration systems.

Corporate Competencies:

• Demonstrates integrity by modelling the UN’s values and ethical standards;
• Promotes the vision, mission, and strategic goals of UNDP, and partner organizations;
• Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability;
• Excellent understanding of international development issues and knowledge of the UN system.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

• Bachelor’s Degree or higher in Public Administration, Demography, Geography, Statistics or related field

 Experience:

• At least 7 years of experience working on population registration systems (civil registration; national ID cards; voter registration; etc.);
• Extensive experience in advising national governments on population registration systems, preferably in different country contexts;
• Familiarity with the work of the UN system on identity management and population registration systems;
• Experience researching and drafting policy documents in the area of population registration systems.

 Language:

• Excellent command of English. Excellent oral and written communication skills in English;
• Knowledge of other UN languages, an asset, but not required.

Application Procedure

The application is a two-step process. Failing to comply with the submission process may result in disqualifying the applications:

Step 1: Submission of Technical Proposals

Interested individual consultants must include the following documents when submitting the applications in UNDP Job Shop (Please note that only 1 (one) file can be uploaded therefore please include all docs in one file)

• Technical Proposal (maximum 3 pages): a brief description and justification of the approach proposed to conduct the assignment; demonstrating the applicant’s qualifications and experience will enable him/her to successfully deliver against the requirements of this assignment within the required timeframe;
• CV or Personal History Form (P11), indicating all past experience from similar projects, as well as the contact details (email and telephone number) of the candidate and at least three (3) professional references (the template can be downloaded from this link: http://sas.undp.org/Documents/P11_Personal_history_form.doc .

Step 2: Submission of Financial Proposals

Applicants are instructed to submit their financial proposals in US Dollars for this consultancy to bpps.procurement@undp.org, using the financial proposal template available here: http://procurement-notices.undp.org/view_file.cfm?doc_id=45780. The proposals should be sent via email with the following subject heading: “Financial Proposal for Mapping UN Activity in Support of Identity Management” by the deadline for this vacancy. Proposals to be received after the deadline may be rejected. In order to assist the requesting unit in the comparison of financial proposals, the financial proposal should be all-inclusive and include a detailed breakdown. The term ‘all-inclusive’ implies that all costs (professional fees, communications, utilities, consumables, insurance, etc.) that could possibly be incurred by the Contractor are already factored into the financial proposal. The cost of the assignment shall be linked to the deliverables specified above and reflected in the Section B. of the Financial Proposal template.

Criteria for Selection

Only those candidates who meet the minimum level of education and relevant years of experience requirements will be considered for the technical evaluation. The technical evaluation will include a desk review and may also include interviews with shortlisted candidates.

Combined scoring method – where the qualifications and methodology will be weighted a max of 70%, and combined with the price offer which will be weighted a max of 30%.

Method: cumulative analysis method will be used to evaluate proposals.

When using this weighted scoring method, the award of the contract will be made to the individual consultant whose offer has been evaluated and determined as:

• Responsive / compliant / acceptable; and
• Having received the highest score out of a pre-determined set of weighted technical and financial criteria specific to the solicitation.

Technical criteria weight: 70 (70% of total obtainable scores)

Financial criteria weight: 30 (30% of total obtainable scores)

 Only candidates obtaining a minimum of 49 (70%) points on technical part will be considered for the financial evaluation.

 Criteria and scores for technical evaluation (maximum 70 points):

• Criteria 1: Suitability of proposed approach (20 point);
• Criteria 2:  Relevant previous experience working on population systems in different country contexts (20 points);
• Criteria 3: Familiarity with the work of the UN system on identity management and population registration systems (20 points);
• Criteria 4:  Experience researching and drafting policy documents in the area of population registration systems (10 points).

Criteria for financial evaluation (maximum 30 points):

The following formula will be used to evaluate financial proposal:

 p = y (µ/z), where

p = points for the financial proposal being evaluated
y = maximum number of points for the financial proposal
µ=price of the lowest priced proposal
z = price of the proposal being evaluated

 The award of contract will be made to the individual consultant who receives the highest combined score out of the weighted technical and financial criteria as specified above.

General terms and conditions_ Individual Consultant (IC)http://www.undp.org/content/dam/undp/documents/procurement/documents/IC%20-%20General%20Conditions.pdf